London, Sept 6 (ANI): A majority of British schools are violating the law by failing to stage a daily Christian assembly, a research has revealed.
According to a survey covering 1,700 people, conducted by ComRes, almost two-thirds, 64 percent of parents said their children did not take part in collective worship at school every day, the Telegraph reports.
The survey, commissioned by the BBC, revealed that secondary schools are far more likely to shun the traditional requirement, which was made compulsory in the state system in the mid 40s.
According to the 1944 Education Act, schools must provide "broadly Christian worship" every day.
Parents have the right to pull children out of religious assemblies, but the power is not extended to pupils themselves.
The survey found 60 percent of adults were not in favour of maintaining the law on collective worship, although this dropped to less than half of peopled aged over 65.
Andrew Hawkins, ComRes chairman, said that this "poll tells a story of declining support for Christian worship in schools, evidenced in three ways".
"Firstly, relatively few parents say their children's school complies with the law. Secondly, support for the current law is best described as lukewarm," the paper quoted Hawkins, as saying.
"Thirdly, the headline figures are driven by a striking age gradient showing younger parents as the most likely to say the law is not enforced and should not be, while older parents are more inclined to say the opposite," he said.
"The key question for the future is whether younger people will become more supportive of collective worship as they age, or whether this marks a generational change and therefore further decline in support over the coming years," he added. (ANI)
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